Finally, good advice about Google updates - don't panic!

Creating fresh content is definitely and always will be the key, but a lot of it is just being patient. We have seen one of are sites go from #1 on Google to #10 to #3 then to #8 then back to #1 for our main keyword in the course of just 3 months and our strategy never changed the entire time.

Since Google keeps changing their algorithms you may be #1 tomorrow after a slight change in how they evaluate quality sites. Nobody knows how their sites will be evaluated and it changes so frequently lately it can be way to stressful to even worry about it. I personally have stressed way to much about rankings when at the end of the day all you can do is your best.

Precisely. I mean, (IMHO) after all the IM world is not about ranking, its about selling a product. It doesn't matter where your page is, as long as it can be found reasonably quickly in a search for your chosen keywords, everything's cool. The main thing to focus on is your product or service. Yea, it helps to rank well, but it should not be the obly thing you strive for. Keeping your content updated, unique and engaging, making sure you employ no bad tactics to get a product out there on the net etc. and just making sure any links placed in a good neighborhood can help you go far and not worry too much bout the panda.

The problem is Google has such a monopoly in search traffic, it is difficult not to worry about the consequences of its updates. A small dip in Google search traffic is enough to wipe out double digit increase in Bing/Yahoo traffic and have a significant impact on any website.

If only the share of search traffic between the major search engines are spread more evenly.

I think that the current Google updates are just signs that they are already catching up. It is but apparent for us (business and individuals alike) to take SEO seriously rather than simply looking for ways to automate things.

Google now cries for more original and engaging content and I guess that is where our focus should be at than trying to know what works or not.

When all else fails, we just need to get back to basics and grow our website for the sake of our visitors and prospect base.

I would agree with wingman. There still is the need to get decent backlinks but getting the on-page stuff right and ensuring good content must be the way to go to ensure no nasty surprises in the future.

Basically you shouldn't worry about update, on the proviso you have a solid website with great content and its updated on a regular basis. You should also always be building quality (not quantity) back links and using social media to talk to people. This is the bare minimum you need to be doing and then you've no need to worry about updates such as recently against web spam.

why cant google just leave its altharum thingy as it is instead of making honest web owners suffer

I think its because it needs to be changed as regularly as the not so honest web owners and seo companies out there change tactics and find new ways to manipulate search engines. In the end, they are just trying to make sure that when you or I do a google search for something, we find a quality site that gives us the information we're looking for without having to sift through low quality sites that have nothing for us.